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Talk:BreakTheInternet/@comment-3575890-20161227075454
Trigger warning: rape culture and apologism in media I was rewatching a scene (the one with the mashup of Serenate hooking up in flashback, Nair breaking up, and Chuck basically trying to rape Serena) from the Gossip Girl pilot (or rather I came across it on YouTube by chance) and I honestly cannot believe how easily people forgot about Chuck baldfaced attempting to rape two girls in the first two episodes. It's been so long since I watched the pilot of this show when it first aired, and I remember my much younger self whom had not been nearly as educated on the pressing issues that surround rape culture, even then had been deeply disturbed by it and my opinion of the Chuck character, greatly affected by it. Therefore, I don't know how the hell the show was able to erase my memory of such a grotesque scene, that initially strongly reasonated with me, to the point that I could ship Chuck with anyone later on. As shamed as I am to admit, back in the day, I grew to be quite the Chair fan. By then though it had been so long since I had seen the pilot that I forgot all about the horrific way in which Chuck's character was initially introduced. Don't mistake me. He never ceased to be a piece of shit, but he didn't go on to try to rape anyone else. I think even the writers at that point realized the grave error they made in portraying him as a rapist. Not that that ever deters the bulk of fans of any fandom from appreciating a character if he's a white attractive male, but the writers surely knew they had their work cut out for them if they wished to successfully transition him into the quintessential romantic hero from a former attempted rapist. And clearly they were successful. I feel so disgusted that I was able to overlook this in the past and ship Chair for the first two seasons. Granted, they weren't as much of a mess than as they went on to be later, but even in the early stages, it was dysfunctional as fuck. I realize now that my former love for that ship was tantamount to apologism of so many things I stand firmly against and even did back then. This show had gaslighted me into forgetting that half the ship I was rooting for was an actual honest to god rapist. Jfc. Seeing that horrible scene again years later as an adult much wiser and more educated than I was before, I am just nauseated. It is SO much worse than I remembered it. I mean, I definitely remembered it as a depiction that called for great discomfort from a third party perspective, but I also for some reason recalled from memory it skirting the realm of dubious consent (think Dolly J) rather than being portrayed as the full blown attempted rape scene that it actually was. It's a lot longer of a sequence than I remembered it and far more blatant. Also, so much more disturbing and painful to watch than I remember. I can't even believe how much this show must have gaslighted me to forget these details. It baffles me that people can go back to rewatch the pilot and STILL emerge just as much of a Chuck stan as before. He makes male characters of Zig Novak's ilk look like a PRINCE.